Tuesday was a drama-filled marathon at Wimbledon. Wednesday was nothing of the sort.
That’s not to say that the British fans didn’t enjoy it.
Quite the opposite, because they enjoyed it immensely. Great Britain’s own Arthur Fery continued his run into the semifinals, and he did so in convincing fashion. The 23-year-old upset Roland Garros finalist Flavio Cobolli 6-4, 7-6(4), 6-0 to become just the second man in history to reach the semifinals at the All-England Club as a wild card. Goran Ivanisevic accomplished that feat — and went on to lift the trophy — 25 years ago (2001).
“I knew beforehand that he was the only wild card to ever win a Grand Slam,” Fery said of Ivanisevic. “So, yeah, it’s obviously an incredible story. I’ve watched the highlights of the final before. I’m not going to speculate too much or think ahead of what that could be like. I’m just going to keep thinking ahead about my match on Friday, and then we’ll see how it goes.”
Standing in Fery’s way of the final is recent RG champ Alexander Zverev, who beat a hobbled Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 at almost the exact same moment on Court 1. With Fritz slowed by a knee issue, Zverev did not drop serve a single time.
“(I’m) happy to be in the semifinals,” the 29-year-old German commented after ending a seven-match losing streak against Fritz. “I think especially against someone like Taylor, who I’ve struggled with over the past two years — it’s been a pretty one-sided tennis match that always went his way. (I’m) very pleased with how I played. To be in the semifinals is great.”
“I don’t want to take away from how well he’s playing,” Fritz commented. “I’m not saying the result would have been any different. He was playing very aggressive, doing a lot of things that are big improvements to his game. He’s changing direction a lot with the backhand. He’s serving such high percentage (and in) good spots. Really pulling the trigger with the forehand.
“It would have been an incredibly tough match (even at 100 percent). I’m just really sad that I didn’t get the chance to get into it. I felt like just because I was thinking about the knee, my focus was kind of all over the place.”
Wednesday’s two quarterfinal contest combined did not last as long as Tuesday’s battle between Novak Djokovic and Felix Auger-Aliassime. Djokovic triumphed in a fifth-set tiebreaker after five hours and 15 minutes, finishing just before the 11:00 pm curfew. The 39-year-old Serb will go up against world No. 1 and defending champion Jannik Sinner on Friday.
Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on Twitter at @Dimonator.